Comments on: Martha’s Perfect Roast Chicken

By: @N_Lesley

@N_Lesley — Sat, 02 Jan 2010 00:29:35 +0000

I'm on a quest for the perfect roast chicken, although it's also my belief that roast chicken falls into the same category as pizza and sex – even when it's not great, it's still pretty good. This is tops on my list and on the weekend's agenda. Thank you!

By: Jeff Crump

Jeff Crump — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 15:12:16 +0000

Normally this would be one of two things: either your chicken may have been a bit frozen or that you used too big of bird. Either one of these (or a combination of both) would result in an overly done outside and a raw inside.

A third issue could be that you might have had the chicken in the wrong position in your oven. Our oven has a temperature discrepancy between the top and bottom elements, so we typically have to cook food on the higher racks so as not to burn the bottom. Get an oven thermometer and hang it in various places in your oven to find out the optimal "center" of your oven.

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:26:09 +0000

Arrrgh! This happened to me once. By any chance, were you using a chicken you'd frozen and then thawed? Sometimes the rest of the chicken will feel like it's ready to go, but the inside cavity will still be way too cold. Cold enough to cook more slowly than the rest of the bird.

If that definitely wasn't the case, let me know, and I'll try to help. Also, you can always e-mail me at Rebecca@ezrapoundcake.com.

By: Madam Chow

Madam Chow — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 07:39:55 +0000

So right. You know how everyone "tents" the chicken while it's resting? I don't do it, because all that effort to get crispy skin goes to waste from the steam that builds up unde the foil.

By: Tracey

Tracey — Sun, 02 Aug 2009 21:32:29 +0000

I love roast chicken and I absolutely agree with you that a homemade bird is so much better than a store bought one. I have Martha's Cooking School book but I haven't tried too many of the recipes yet. I need to change that!

By: Jennifer

Jennifer — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 22:19:23 +0000

Your chicken looks WONDERFUL! I have to admit, I am a SUCKER for crispy skin…and I eat it, I don't care that it's probably better not to. I tried to roast a chicken once and it didn't turn out so well…I think maybe I should try it again.

I see that your chicken is in a cast iron pan…was that your roasting vessel of choice?

By: Marilyn

Marilyn — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 17:12:44 +0000

Nothing like roast chicken! If you want to skip the sauce and like the idea of the pan drippings creating roasted crutons, go to the the New York Times website and search roast chicken (March 2009 recipe). You slather some olive oil on the chicken, stuff it with lemon, garlic & thyme, drizzle olive oil on thick slices of bread, put the chicken on top of the bread and roast away.

By: June

June — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 14:35:33 +0000

I agree, there's nothing better than a home roasted bird & this recipe is wonderful, though it's caused our smoke detector to go off on occasion….as for the pan sauce, oh man! Now you've got my mouth watering for chicky & it's only 7:26 in the morning. What am I to do?

By: Mrsblocko

Mrsblocko — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 13:49:12 +0000

I've always been a scaredy cat about roasting chicken, but this doesnt seem too hard. I think I'll give this a whirl next time whole chicken goes on sale.

By: Tina

Tina — Fri, 31 Jul 2009 06:02:12 +0000

That chicken looks pretty and golden brown. So much better than store bought. Invite mom over and make it maybe she will change her mind as well.